RedDawg#8

Add to this Miami owns the edge in any 3 way tie scenario with Boston/NY/ and us because of cumulative record. Long story short, being swept by NY can come back to haunt us.

Correct. From what I could find. If we lose out, NY loses out, and Boston wins out, then we have a 3 way tie scenario at 38-34. If that happens, division winner would own tiebreaker 1. That would be none of us. Next is best combined head to head of the 3 teams. In that instance NY would be 4-2, Boston 3-3, and us last at 2-4. So that's how we could technically fall to 7th place.

How is it that Miami has officially clinched a playoff spot, but the Knicks and Hawks haven't? I've looked at every tiebreaker and there is no way Boston could catch us. What am I missing? https://www.espn.com/nba/standings

THT you are the man bro!!!

F--- Yeah!!!!!

That did not last long.... 56-55 Knicks at the break

F' it lol

As far as the East is concerned, we can safely say that the top 6 and the 4 play in teams are virtually locked up. Still a matter of final positioning, but Miami seems to have put a fork in Boston, who will likely be the 7th seed and host a play in game. Indy is climbing all of a sudden after looking dead in the water before they played us last week. Wizards may be in extreme desperation mode tomorrow if they don't want to be the 10 seed. Now we have to keep pace with two teams as a loss could knock us down to 6th if we aren't careful. We really have to handle our business this week.

That 3 way scenario is a total mind screw. Such a weird quirk

All I know is, we gave Nique a hard time for ball hogging and not playing defense (I say we as if I was actually around back then, Im 33). But we still love him, and respect him as the greatest Hawk ever. Trae isn't above criticism, nobody is. But that doesn't mean that we want to get rid of him. It means that we irrationally want him to be the perfect player. Is that so much to ask? lol Win or lose, great stats or not, a bad shot will always be a bad shot. An ugly turnover will always be an ugly turnover. It's not personal from the fans that love him, Maybe it is for the haters. But not from us

This part. I don't care if he scores 40 or racks up 15 assists, I just want him to make good decisions and have discernment between time and place. Early shot clock, late game, you can tell when he is hunting his deep 3 versus getting the team in to a good shot. That's the improvement you want him to take. Get's a switch and ISO's a big, we all know he wants to take that guy off the dribble, so does the defense. He get's blocked at the rim when the play is to read the help side and find the open man. Other stars kill us with this. The defense is panicking, so make them pay. Getting crazy ball pressure, he has improved getting off the ball and finding his teammates, next is to put some miles on that defenders legs by running through the lane and coming back around off a screen to get the ball back with a defender in recovery mode. That turns you in to a scoring option now and not just a hovering decoy. I love aggressive Trae. I love when the defense is on their heels. I hate aggressive Trae when the defense junks up the play and he is forcing something janky. Its the life of a PG superstar. Everything flows through you. But the key word you mentioned is control. He has improved a lot. But he still has his moments. He has to keep improving and we will see this under a microscope come playoff time.

Teams leave Giannis open from three. Teams used to sag off of Lebron from 3. Trae can shoot. Nobody is leaving him open from three. No matter what the percentages say, no matter how lethal his lane floater is, or his propensity to draw touch fouls from outside the three point line, teams will not leave Trae open from deep. He struggles because he rarely gets clean looks. When left wide open Trae knocks down shots at an elite level. Giannis can't do that, Lebron couldn't. Trae is different.

Right. Rae was saying don't let them create another narrative, which they love to do with Trae. It's just one goalpast after another.

You know what, I agree, but it hit me that he seems to play worse as the main ball handler. So when we take Kev off the 2nd unit that leaves Lou to create for everyone and he doesnt get the same space or rhythm. I think if we are in a situation where Kev has to start for whatever reason, they need to let BG get backup PG minutes to take the ball pressure off of Lou. When Kev is with the second unit, it's another story for Lou.

I loved him on Open Court, he has the best stories on the panels.

That's God awful. The more guys we get back the worse the bench plays it seems. Good thing is that come playoff time, you only need 8 guys really. Your starting 5, plus a backup at guard, wing and big. No need to go full on bench 5 unit unless its a blowout or foul trouble. Trae, Bogi, Dre, JC, Clint, Kev, Gallo, Lou. That's the main squad.

Leave it to the legend to completely disagree with my assessment lol

Trae has to step up and play smarter. He has worked on his defense to where he isn't just a liability. Well, all that hard work goes out the window with the live ball turnovers and missed deep shots that turn in to easy scoring opportunities Most of those are unforced errors in which he was not under duress. We won, he had a great numbers game. But playoff basketball is about the mental side as much as anything else. You have to be tough physically AND mentally. You can not make silly mistakes and expect to win games. I hope he is really taking this to heart. The surrounding cast have all risen their game. Kev and JC are playing 2 way basketball and with more intensity. Trae needs to tap in to that level of discipline and focus.

Why are the injuries always clumped together at the same positions? All of our SF's just have to be on nicked up, it couldn't be the 3rd string PG or the 3rd string center that never plays?

Miami is the real benefactor in all of this

Well if you want to a hard-ass you could say guys like Pau Gasol, Luka Doncic and even Devonte Graham lol

I need us to show up on National TV. We do fine on NBA TV which barely counts, but ESPN, TNT, etc..., we always look off. We are 5-4 overall on Natty television 4-2 on NBA TV 1-1 on ESPN 0-1 on TNT I need us to wake some people up ahead of the postseason.

Any of the Knick's last 4 games can knock them off if you ask me, but they are the better team right now in each matchup so it would take a huge effort to beat them. I agree on Rose. He is an X factor that is getting overlooked. His body may have failed him, but he still that Alpha mentality clutch gene that you want on the court. Between him knowing how and when to make big shots, and Randle being fire all season, they have deadly 1-2 punch of playmakers. Randle gives you body shots all game and Rose hits the knock out. As far as the Bucks, they are playing their best basketball right now, whereas the Nets are middling. Nets have the talent, but they are not smooth sailing by any means. Bucks are ready for the playoffs, Nets are like us, still trying to get their pieces together and gel.

To the OP @sillent I think there are 2 things your point. 1) Most of those guys were here during the prime of their career from a age and physical standpoint. Everyone has a window of time for their "best years " and their's happened to overlap in Atlanta either on the front or back end of it. 2) I think the lack of star presence in Atlanta has traditionally forced us to overestimate the abilities of the guys we have had in uniform. Forced ownership to sell to the fans that JJ was on the same level as other superstars for example, out of necessity. We took guys who probably peaked at a B+, 88 overall, level of performance and convinced each other that they were really A level (overall 92 or above ) types, and just a hair below the very very best. When those guys left Atlanta or right before they got here, they were either just entering or exiting their primes, and they probably weren't as good as we convinced ourselves they were. When they went to other teams, they were rightfully put in to roles that better suited their actual abilities, and used NEXT to superstar level players instead of being asked to perform as such. I don't think there is any magic sauce on the wings other than ownerships general inability to put superstars in an Atlanta uniform and as a result, getting the most out of the All Star level guys that we could get by providing them everything they could ever need to succeed outside of an actual Batman to run next to.

Those losses to Detroit and Indy really burn right now. Can't win em all, but there are some games you cant afford to lose. The toughest games are behind the Knicks at this point. They have 4 "playoff" teams on their schedule, and all are play-in squads trying to jockey. The only hope is for them to be hungrier than the fat cats. But if Rose's sideline intensity is any indication, the Knicks have turned the switch on to playoff mode. Win or go home mentality. We need to see that same intensity from our unit to close out the regular season or we will be in for a rude awakening come game 1.